Thoughts on everyday life and inspiring others to contribute to life in a positive way.

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Friday, May 30, 2014

A Really Good Man

By all accounts
in the Bible . . . and even within various interpretations of the story,
Zacharias was considered to be a kind of scoundrel.He was a tax collector and back then, tax
collectors had a reputation of being unfair, of sort of picking and choosing
who he would collect from, and even how much he might collect from them.I’m not sure if, back then, they kept records
or if they did, what kind of records, or even how accurate the records were.

Zacharias was a
little guy.I kind of picture him about
my height, probably shorter.I say that
because as the story goes, he had to climb a tree in order to see what all the
fuss was about.There was a crowd around
this Preacher, this Prophet, and Zacharias couldn’t see.As the Prophet came closer, He looked up and
saw Zacharias and said, “Zacharias, come down from that tree.I will be staying at your house tonight.”

Wow!Talk about controversy.I imagine the crowd murmuring, complaining,
and at the least, questioning as to why this Prophet, this Holy Man, might want
to be near this scoundrel, this heathen, this thug.

So in his own
defense, Zacharias defends himself, explaining to everyone who would listen-
and I imagine not to many were interested in listening to him- what sorts of
things he might have done right, what he tried to do, owning up to mistakes he
might have made in the past, but indicating a willingness to atone for
them.A willingness to do better, to
make things right.

But what was
remarkable, at least to me, was that this Holy Man, this Prophet, had decided
to spend a night with him before Zacharias defended himself, before he even
uttered a word.It seems that this Holy
Man, this Prophet, knew something that the crowd didn’t know.This Holy Man, this Prophet, knew something
that Zacharias didn’t even know about himself.

That deep down,
at his core, Zacharias was A Really Good Man.

Springsteen has
a lyric in his song, Human Touch that goes like this: “. . . Yeah, I
know I ain't nobody's bargain; But, hell, a little touch up; And a little paint
. . .”

One of my
favorite songs and one of my favorite lines.“Yeah, I know I ain’t nobody’s bargain; but, hell, a little touch up; And
a little paint . . .”

Kind of
describes each of us, doesn’t it?

Zacharias.You.Me.Certainly, me.Absolutely, me.

But give us a
chance, an opportunity . . . give us someone who might look beyond what we’ve
might have done to see what we might do . . .

And, there’s
something endearing about this short scoundrel who had to climb a tree in order
to see.Seems to me there’s a metaphor
in there somewhere.Having to rise above
a crowd.Having Someone look up in order
to see him.Not down, mind you, but
up.And, for Zacharias to see clearly,
to see what the fuss was all about, he had to rise above the crowd.He had to lift himself up in order to see.

So . . .

Seems to me that
we have two Really Good Men in this story.

On one hand, a
Prophet, a Holy Man, who was able to look beyond the crowd, who was able to
look beyond the reputation, the clothes, the present day actions, to see a Good
Man’s heart, A Good Man’s soul.To
understand that just because someone trashes your reputation, that just because
two or three might disagree and spread gossip and innuendo, it just might not
be so.That there can be A Really Good
Man right in front of you, standing there in plain sight.That perhaps, there can be A Really Good Man
up in a tree where you and he and she can see each other clearly and notice and
understand and believe what others cannot see or notice or understand or
believe.Yes, Like Zacharias, you and I
. . . we, each of us . . . are A Really Good Man.A Really Good Man.We just might need “a touch up and, hell, a
little paint.”Something to think about
. . .